


The Empire's Last Breath

by fuckyeahHanandLeia



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: A new hope, Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo - Freeform, Leia organa - Freeform, Luke Skywalker - Freeform, Multi, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia - Freeform, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars - Freeform, The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 10:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6150823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckyeahHanandLeia/pseuds/fuckyeahHanandLeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was wondering what would've happened if there had been 4 original Star Wars movies instead of 3 and so I decided to write one. So this is what I imagine a fourth original would be (technically it would be episode 7 but that's now TFA). This is set roughly 6ABY (2 years after the Battle of Endor and the events of ROTJ).</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Empire's Last Breath

The falcon moves through space at lightspeed, new satellite intact and the same old crew on board- except this time, they have one new member. Leia sits in the newly refurbished main lounge of the ship, feet up on the hologram table, engrossed in a book. A few minutes later, her beloved scoundrel walks through from the cockpit to join her and removes his gloves, placing them on the chair by the technical station. He mimics dusting his hands off and then stretches, the first time he's left the cockpits and the constraints of his chair all morning. Leia's eyes never leave the page and she never once acknowledges his presence -although despite this being a sign of her frustration with him in the past, now it simply means she has no questions to ask and he has no need to disturb her. The Corellian stands in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips, as he takes in his surroundings. He glances at the lounge seat beside the princess, mentally debating whether to join her and risk interrupting her or relax in the chair beside the technical station instead. His eyebrows knit together in thought and he stands there for several minutes daydreaming - something he has come to be grateful for. Ever since he encountered the farmboy and Leia and stumbled upon the rebellion, he has seemingly never had a moment to himself to think over the chaotic events of the past few years and this recent slower pace is a welcome change. Deciding on the latter, he picks up the gloves from the seat and drops them lightly on the desk of the station before sitting down and gently spinning himself back and forth in the chair. After several moments, Leia gently closes her book and places it on the hologram table in front of her, putting her feet down in the process. She looks up and smiles at her boyfriend, who smiles back, a familiar smile she could never tire of seeing. She is first to break the silence but speaks softly, only loud enough for her to be heard.

"Any word from Luke?" she asks calmly, curiosity lingering in her voice.

  
"Yeah" he smiles reassuringly as he continues his reply. "I've just had confirmation from him actually. He's almost reached Cyrillia so if everything goes to plan, we should be fine to meet up with him there"

He's a man that talks with his hands - something Leia can't help but adore - and he does so now, gently gesturing to nowhere in particular as he speaks, somewhat illustrating his point. She merely nods in response. They've been on this ship for nearly 2 days now and although large enough not to be cramped, it's difficult to remain comfortable in such a confined space for prolonged periods of time. The falcon is now technically her home- never in her wildest dreams would she have considered making Han give it up in replace for an over-the-top 'luxury' royal suite in some Alliance base. It's a nice change for the princess, desperate to move on from her Royal title and its constraints and prejudices and for the first time in her life, settle into a more normal role. In fact, she rather cared for the ship as it remained a constant in their relentless travels between systems for Alliance business. Leia still held a role in the Alliance, still maintained a valued opinion as a politician- although things were done much differently now in comparison to two years ago when the galaxy was still under the grip of the Empire. Another welcome change was her new title - General - which she much preferred. It implied respect had been earned rather than demanded, which she appreciated. She never felt comfortable with her previous royal title and certainly felt no need for it now, given that she was the only surviving member of the royalty it linked to. The entire reason for it had been turned to dust over half a decade ago now and her title had also slowly but surely also began to disappear. There was nobody left who still saw her as royalty, nobody left to call her by her childhood title- with one exception.

"You alright there princess?"

Perfect timing.

"I'm okay" she inwardly laughs to herself and continues responding to her completely oblivious partner. "I just miss fresh air- I've been staring at these same four walls for nearly 3 days"  
  
The space pirate chuckles in response to her and she beams back at him, his laugh one of her most cherished things in the world.  
He gently pushes himself up from the chair and wanders over to her, lightly indicating gently with a slight shake of his hand for her to make room for him beside her. She scoots over and he sits down beside her, right arm around her protectively and she rests her head gently on his chest.

"About 4 hours left now sweetheart. Not long. Luke should nearly be there now." He hesitates and then leans and whispers gently in her ear. "Don't tell him, but I actually think I've missed the kid"

Leia chuckles and snakes her arms around his waist. Her head rests on his toned but comfortable, warm and homely chest and he kisses the top of her it before resting his chin gently on her, her soft hair acting as a cushion. And that's how they remain - enclosed in each other's arms - right up until the Cyrillia system comes into view and disturbs their peaceful serenity.

///-\\\\\

Han seems to wake instinctively. His arms are still loosely draped around Leia, who still rests gently in his arms but has awoken earlier and returned to her novel. 

"What time is it?" he asks sleepily, his left hand rubbing his eyes and his right gently holding his princess. 

"We're set to reach Cyrillia in about half an hour" 

"Right" he breathes out heavily, relieved to have arrived without any issues but blatantly in need of a longer rest. "I'll have to go and see Chewie, see what's up"

He gently prises himself away from Leia and kisses her forehead as he gets up to leave. Just as he reaches the doorway, she remembers something.

"Oh! By the way, Luke arrived safely a little over two hours ago"

He leans against the doorway and raises his eyebrows. Gently he chuckles to himself and says something barely audible under his breath. "that damn force eh" 

The pilot hesitates briefly, smirking to himself, before looking up. Leia is beaming from ear to ear in admiration of him.

"I told you you'd believe it someday" she laughs 

"...and you'll never let me live it down" he smirks again and taps the doorframe with his hand. "I'm telling you, that kid runs into a lot less problems without that fricking Empire hanging around" 

She just smiles and returns to her book, eyebrows raised in mock annoyance. She could never pass as frustrated, no longer able to keep a straight face around Han. He's the same and their flirtatious banter has become more gentle, something his co-pilot is eternally grateful for.

"I told you, he's a good kid!" she calls after him as he makes his way out of the room.

"He is! He is!" 

Han's voice fades as he dissapears to the cockpit to join Chewie and he leaves Leia to herself, a smile on her face and a smirk on his. 


End file.
